


sugar

by orphan_account



Category: Topp Dogg (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, M/M, also self indulgent hansol w/ lots of tats n piercings l o l sweats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-24
Updated: 2015-04-24
Packaged: 2018-03-25 13:42:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3812650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Byungjoo's not gay, he just got caught out in the rain. That turns out bad for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is my beloved.  
> i wrote this with my boyfriend kali (who doesn't have an ao3 but he's kaliface on tumblr) so if you notice some huge shifts in writing style or some lazy editing on either of our parts well.... that's why.  
> i have burst into the toppdogg writing scene on ao3 and i hope i have burst well.  
> please enjoy!!!!

The rain poured down on the streets of Seoul, making the whole sky drab and dark. Amongst the bustling people carrying umbrellas down the pathways was a young looking boy with a mop of bright purple hair who seemed to look out of place, as his own umbrella was missing.

For a moment it seemed as if the rain was going to let up slightly and he was excited for maybe five seconds before the downpour returned with renewed strength, forcing him to duck under a nearby awning. He noticed that the awning bore the name ‘Kim Bakery’ and looked through one of the windows, noting that it was rather… pink.

He suddenly noticed the door opening and someone stepped out, bearing an umbrella (which was also very pink). They seemed nice enough until they got close enough and the lights from the streetlamps shone onto them, highlighting arms littered in tattoos and two studs just under their bottom lip. His eyes went wide, surely this was a joke of some sort. He was most definitely and for sure going to get mugged right now. He suddenly choked out, “Don’t hurt me! I don’t have any money, alright?”

The stranger looked a bit offended, eyebrows raising. “Hurt you? Why would I hurt you? Do you not notice how hard it’s raining, you’re going to get sick. Come inside!” He motioned for Byungjoo to come inside, and Byungjoo just stared. “What? Come on, it’s warm inside and I’ll give you a free donut.”

Byungjoo blankly stared, furrowing his eyebrows before looking around. It was clear that the rain wasn’t going to let up, what other choice did he really have? He shuffled inside the pink building, following the stranger. He didn’t really know what to say, thoughts jumbled. The thought of this man even being here at this bakery was extremely confusing. He cleared his throat before he spoke. “Uh. So did you get forced to work here or something? Was it a bet or… No other jobs…?”

The stranger scoffed, shaking his head. “I own this bakery.”

Byungjoo suddenly felt his face flush with embarrassment. “S-sorry…” was all he could quietly reply.

The other man smiled warmly. “It’s fine, lots of people say I look weird working here. They never expect me to own it.” Then once he’d disappeared behind the counter he asked, “Do you like eclairs?”

Byungjoo most certainly liked eclairs and thus he ended up sitting at a table across from this stranger, who’d introduced himself as Hansol. After watching him while he spoke, Byungjoo decided that he kind of liked the tattoos and piercings, and also that he kind of liked Hansol’s voice. Byungjoo decided to spark up conversation while eyeing the art sprawled along Hansol’s arms. “So… How come you have so many tattoos?”

Hansol looked down at his own arms, as if checking to see what Byungjoo was referring to. “Well, um, I thought they were cool in high school and I got one… then I got another one… and now it’s like this.” He laughed a bit self consciously and rubbed at a portion of his sleeve tattoo. “It’s kind of lame, really, but I thought flowers and fish were really pretty…”

Byungjoo nodded in understanding, “I think they’re pretty.” He had an urge to say, ‘and you are too’, but since he didn’t know Hansol that well he thought it was for the best to keep quiet.

“Where do you live, Byungjoo?”

“Far away from here…” Byungjoo sighed, putting his head into his hands. Clearly with a storm like this as well as the distance, he wasn’t getting home easily.

“Would you like to stay the night?”

Byungjoo’s eyes went wide, Hansol’s sudden hospitality was a bit of a shocker. “But you hardly know me… I even thought you were gonna mug me….” He ended with a sneeze, the cold finally starting to get to him. His clothes and hair still remained soaked, which was a problem.

“You don’t seem all that bad, and anyway you can work some part-time here to repay me. And for the clothes I’m about to let you borrow.”

Byungjoo stared in shock. “Excuse me, but what?”

Hansol laughed, already getting up and walking away from the table. “I’m going to let you borrow some clothes, and then you can pay me for my hard work by working here. Sound good?”

It wouldn’t have done Byungjoo any good to reply, because Hansol was already out of earshot, so instead he just grumbled and reached into the pocket of his soaked jeans to retrieve his phone. As usual, no notifications waited for him, and he sighed. Being unpopular was a pain.

He didn’t have much more time to contemplate his lonely existence because Hansol was walking back to him with a fluffy towel and clothes in one arm and a smile on his face.

Hansol dropped the towel into Byungjoo’s lap. “Go upstairs and into my room. I just need to lock up the shop before I come up, okay?”

Byungjoo nodded, looking for wherever the stairs were. He aimlessly wandered around for about ten minutes before noticing that there was a door behind the counter that most definitely lead somewhere. By the time he had his hand gripped on the door handle, Hansol was pushing past him and opening the door. “Are you serious? You didn’t see this?” Hansol asked with a laugh. “Do you need glasses or something?” He didn’t look back to Byungjoo as he went upstairs.

Byungjoo frowned, muttering to himself under his breath. But, truthfully. Hansol was right, he actually did need glasses.

Upstairs there was a fairly spacious room that seemed to function as a small apartment, and Hansol instructed him to sit in the chair by his vanity. Almost as soon as he did, Hansol draped the towel over his head and started scrubbing at his hair.

“I like your hair, by the way,” Hansol said, voice muffled a bit through the towel.

Byungjoo felt his cheeks warm. “Oh, thanks,” he replied, half-hoping that Hansol hadn’t heard him. If he had, though, he chose not to reply and instead handed Byungjoo his outfit and told him that he could change in the bathroom downstairs.

Once in the bathroom, Byungjoo unfolded the clothes he’d been given and laughed a bit when he found the shirt he’d been given bore the image of a group of kittens. It looked so… un-Hansol that Byungjoo could have cried.

Instead, he just put on the shirt along with the other clothes he’d been given (a pair of boxers and sweatpants) and walked back upstairs to where Hansol was now sitting on his bed.

Hansol patted the spot beside him on the bed. “Awww, don’t you look cute in that shirt?” He couldn’t help but laugh, it made Byungjoo look silly.

“Shut up, I doubt you look any better in it.” Byungjoo quipped, sitting down next to Hansol. “By the way, where am I going to sleep?”

“With me? Obviously?” Hansol asked them as though it was completely obvious and not at all a problem.

“I’m not gay,” was Byungjoo’s instant reply. He honestly didn’t feel too comfortable with sharing a bed with someone he hardly knew, let alone a man.

Hansol looked at Byungjoo, making the most sour expression Byungjoo has ever seen. “I never said you were gay.”

“I know… I… I don’t know why I said it, sorry.” Byungjoo felt small when he spoke to Hansol, as if he was walking on extremely thin ice. He regretted not being more grateful, as Hansol was basically housing him free of charge. He looked away, checking his phone. He noticed it was late, around nearly midnight, he felt as if the time went by so fast.

“It’s late, huh? Do you wanna go to bed?” Hansol asked, already shuffling up to the top of his bed and under his covers. “I won’t hug you or anything, I promise, now that I know you’re not gay.”

Byungjoo felt a little awkward climbing into bed, mostly because he felt like he’d made Hansol mad, but he fell asleep near instantly in the end.

 

Regretfully, Byungjoo woke up with his arms around Hansol’s midsection and his face pressed into his chest. It took him a moment to realize, for one, where he was, and for two what exactly he was doing, and once he did he slowly looked up at Hansol.

Hansol was already awake, and he grinned at Byungjoo before whispering, “I thought you weren’t gay.”

Byungjoo made a choked noise and pulled away from Hansol, scooting to the far reaches of the bed (which wasn’t that far, considering it was just twin-sized). “I’m- I’mnot, it was- cold or something, and you’re warm! Really warm!”

Hansol laughed, sitting up in bed. “It’s fine, calm down. Do you want some breakfast?”

Byungjoo paused for a moment before nodding, and then Hansol motioned for him to get out of his way. Byungjoo did so by rolling until he fell into the floor, and Hansol stared at him for a moment before bursting into a fit of giggles. Byungjoo couldn’t help but smile.

Hansol lead the way to his kitchen, gesturing for Byungjoo to sit down at the table. “Do you like pancakes?”

“Yeah, I really like pancakes! I like maple syrup.”

“Great. I don’t, so you and I are having Nutella instead because it’s better.”

Byungjoo suddenly felt as if his opinion wasn’t even valid, and he was more than a little worried that Hansol was still mad at him. He might as well ask, not like he could just ignore it. “Hansol… are you mad at me?”

Hansol’s back was turned to him, busy with making the breakfast. He clearly heard, but didn’t bother to reply until he dished their breakfast up and sat down. “No, why would you think that? Is badgering me for maple syrup and asking me if I’m mad a heterosexual boy thing?”

Byungjoo understood it was just best for him to shut up and eat his pancakes.

Once he was finished eating, Byungjoo texted his (one and only) friend Jiho while Hansol set about setting up shop for the day. Once Byungjoo told Jiho where he was and explained why he was there, Jiho asked (with a plethora of exclamation points) if he could come over. Byungjoo thought it was kind of stupid, because it wasn’t like it was his shop, but he just replied with ‘sure why not’ and then sat at a table near the window to watch for Jiho.

It only took Jiho a few minutes to arrive and he took one look at Byungjoo’s shirt and started cackling. “Cats, wow. Way to be manly.”

Byungjoo crossed his arms and pouted, and he could have sworn he heard Hansol laughing from the kitchen area. “It’s a manly shirt, kittens are manly.”

“Pfft, right. Good job.” Jiho looked around, eyes falling on some pastries that had already been placed in one of the cases. “Well, while I’m here I might as well get something. Hold on a sec.”

Byungjoo watched as Jiho ordered a slice of cake and then, after a short conversation with Hansol, returned to the table Byungjoo was sitting at with a grin on his face. “What?” Byungjoo asked as Jiho sat down, and Jiho laughed.

“I can’t believe you told him you weren’t gay, that’s the lamest thing you could ever do.” Jiho took a bite of his cake, pointing his fork at Byungjoo accusingly. “You ruined it, he was totally interested.”

Byungjoo frowned, eyes flicking to where Hansol was arranging pies. “You’re stupid, he wasn’t.”

“No, you’re stupid.” Jiho said, shoving practically half of his cake slice into his mouth. “He’s hot. I’ll totally bang him if you won’t.”

Byungjoo made a face of disgust. “Stop saying things like that, it’s- it’s weird.”

“What, are you too straight for this?” Jiho raised an eyebrow at him, and Byungjoo got the urge to shove him off his chair and into the floor.

Byungjoo then went silent, his cheeks slightly going red.

“Are you getting small gay feelings, like, right now? You thinkin’ ‘bout his dick in you- shit. What if his dick is pierced too?” Jiho was practically in his own world by now, unaware of anything surrounding him. It was only him, and his imagination.

Byungjoo watched Jiho’s mouth salivate. “You’re disgusting. Can’t you at least be a little quiet, he’s like… only a few feet away.”

Jiho finally changed the subject after his imaginary fantasy thoughts were over, chatting animatedly with Byungjoo. They talked for about twenty minutes until Hansol came over to sit with them. “Hey you two, what’ve you been talking about?”

Byungjoo kicked Jiho under the table before he even had a chance to speak, Byungjoo quickly took the chance to talk. “Nothing really, just… stuff.”

“Was I a part of this ‘stuff’?”

Byungjoo bit his lip. Hansol knew. Hansol definitely knew what Jiho said earlier, there was no way he didn’t hear him. “…Yeah-”

“I said you were hot.” Jiho interrupted, kicking Byungjoo back and smirking.

Byungjoo wasn’t sure why, but he suddenly felt like he had competition. No way was Jiho about to one-up him on this.

The next time Byungjoo looked at Jiho, he was almost certain those were bedroom eyes he was giving Hansol. Byungjoo’s first thought was  _no, I was here first_ , and then it was  _what the fuck I’m not gay_. Jiho, apparently noticing Byungjoo’s sudden panicked expression, leaned towards Hansol and whispered in his ear while shielding his mouth with a hand so Byungjoo couldn’t read his lips. When he pulled back, Hansol was glancing at Byungjoo strangely, and Byungjoo kicked Jiho under the table once more.

Jiho eventually had to leave because he had some kind of a date (he claimed it was just a movie, but Byungjoo knew how movies with Jiho ended up) and once he’d left, Hansol dragged Byungjoo to the back to help him make cakes.

 

“So,” Hansol said conversationally, mixing together icing in a large bowl, “you slept with Jiho once?”

Byungjoo choked, which caused a coughing fit. “What?” He wheezed out once he had finished coughing, not caring that he’d shoved his gloved hand into his own icing bowl.

Hansol laughed. “It’s just what Jiho said, I obviously don’t know if it’s true or not, which is why I’m asking. Did you?”

Byungjoo wheezed again. “No, god. Have you heard him talk? He’s so annoying, I’d never sleep with him.”

“He doesn’t need to have a good personality, you know.” Hansol pointed out, laying his bowl aside and turning to Byungjoo. “But I don’t really care, I think he was just trying to, uh, repair the damage I guess.”

“What damage?” Byungjoo asked, rubbing at a cheek with his still-clean hand.

“Oh, you know… not being gay?” Hansol grinned, then pushed at Byungjoo’s shoulder when Byungjoo didn’t respond. “Oh come on, I’m just joking. Let’s go check on the cake.”

Byungjoo huffed, kicking the floor before following Hansol go check on the cake. “Can I eat it now? It smells really good…”

“No? This is for the customers, not you. Buuut, if there’s some left by the end of the day… you can have it.” Hansol replied, giving Byungjoo’s shoulder a light pat before opening the oven. “Grab the oven mitts.”

Byungjoo did as he was told and got the cake out of the oven as well, setting it down on to the table.

“What do we do now?” Byungjoo groaned, getting impatient. He’d been standing around a cake for ten minutes, practically watching it cool right before his very eyes. It felt like watching paint dry, honestly.

“It should be cool now, I can ice it. I’m not gonna trust you with icing, you’ll make it look like I just gave my piping bags to a five year old and let them loose on a cake.”

Byungjoo went to go get the icing and the piping bags for Hansol, watching each and every step Hansol took. This was surprisingly interesting, and Hansol was really good at what he did. “You’re really good at this, Hansol. It’s cool…”

“Oh? Thank you, Byungjoo. Maybe for that, I’ll teach you something tonight.”

Byungjoo smiled, a little excited for whatever Hansol was gonna teach him.

Within the hour Byungjoo was forced to accept that people actually worked here, and also forced to accept the young boy currently asking questions, like “why’s your hair purple” and “why does Mr. Kim keep staring at you”. Once the young boy was out of earshot, Byungjoo approached Hansol and asked who he was.

“Oh, him? That’s Sangwon, he works here part time.” Hansol smiled, dusting his hands on his apron. “He’s a bit, um- he’s annoying. But he’s good at decorating, so I don’t mind that much. Why, what’d he say?”

“Oh, uh, nothing,” Byungjoo lied, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, uh, he said you kept staring at me? And that it was weird.”

Hansol was silent a moment before he laughed. “It’s nothing, I just- it’s- the shirt. It’s cute on you.”

Byungjoo felt like dying, but instead just said, “Thanks.” He went back to mixing the cake mix, trying to pay attention to the measurements rather than Sangwon who was audibly pestering him with twenty questions or more.

Byungjoo set aside the mix after measuring everything all out, turning to face Sangwon who still stood behind him. “Don’t you have anything better to do than harass me? And how old’re you even? Like, twelve?”

“I’m nineteen you prick.” Sangwon’s words practically dripped with venom, already Byungjoo had gotten off on the wrong foot. “And you’re not that bright, the legal working age is 16. So in any case, you’re fucking far off.”

Byungjoo’s eyes widened a bit- apparently Sangwon’s personality didn’t match his cutesy face. He nodded slowly before turning back around to his cake, putting the things into the bowl as per instructions.

“And how old’re you? Five?” Sangwon spat, walking back off go ice his cake.

Byungjoo let his next remark die on his tongue and instead went to dump the cake mix into one of the mixers. He then realized he had no idea how to work the mixer, even though the buttons were literally labeled, and thus sought help from a nearby employee.

“Um, miss, can you help me?” He asked softly, and then nearly cried when the person turned around and it was not a miss. Not a miss at all.

“Did you just call me ‘miss’?” The boy asked, and Byungjoo saw murder in his eyes.

“Uh- uh- no I’m sorry, please I just need help with the mixer. Please.”

The boy sighed and walked over, and Byungjoo saw that his name tag read ‘Sanggyun’. Sanggyun practically snatched the bowl of cake mix from Byungjoo’s hands and dumped it into the mixer Byungjoo was standing in front of, then pressed a couple buttons.

“Oh,” Byungjoo said once he realized it was basically the simplest thing. “Thank you, thank you. And really, I’m sorry for calling you a-”

“Shhh, shhhhut up.” Sanggyun returned to his work, which appeared to be nothing but sweeping. “Also, bump the speed on the mixer up every so often. And don’t fuck up.”

Byungjoo sighed and stared into the mixer bowl. He was beginning to think this was an awful idea. Did he really need to pay Hansol back for this hideous cat shirt that bad?

Ten minutes or so had passed, and Byungjoo was trying his hardest to concentrate on the mix. It was definitely done by now, the batter looked smooth so he turned the mixer off and got the mixture out from under it. He held the mixture in his hands for about five minutes, his eyes trying to scan the room for an oven of some sort. He couldn’t  quite remember where it was, so thus he went up to a tall and stocky man with blond hair. “Hey, uh… do you know where the ovens are?” The man moved aside- apparently he had been standing right in front of them and had blocked Byungjoo’s view.

“Here you go, kid. Do you want any help? I saw your struggle over there with the mixer, as well as the near-bloodshed with Sanggyun.”

“Thanks…” Byungjoo replied, not really wanting to acknowledge that he struggled with a mixer and angered yet another employee. He passed the mixture to the man, watching him set it aside and put it into greased cake tins before then putting it into the oven.

“Were you just going to put the bowl into the oven, just like that?”

“… Maybe.”

Almost instantly, the man started laughing heartily at him. “Are you serious?” He clutched his sides, looking like he was honestly going to piss himself if he kept laughing.

Only then Byungjoo caught a look at his nametag after he bent down a little to clutch his sides, it read ‘Dongsung’ in clear black letters.

“Shut up!” Byungjoo groaned, crossing his arms. He hadn’t baked cakes for awhile, he was bound to be rusty.

Dongsung laughed, patting Byungjoo on the shoulder. “It’s fine, you’ll learn quickly. Hansol’s a good teacher, I promise. I didn’t know much at all about proper cake baking until I started working here, I just followed the box instructions.” He then gestured at his apron and nametag, smiling. “Now I’ve been working here for five years! So I promise you’ll learn a lot. Besides… it seems like Hansol’s already taken a liking to you.”

Byungjoo wheezed. “What are you talking about? No he hasn’t, he’s just… he’s probably just watching me to make sure I don’t mess anything up, okay?”

Dongsung laughed. “Yeah, sure. Good luck with that, Hansol usually only stares at the asses of people he likes.”

Byungjoo tried to keep from blushing as Dongsung walked away to return to his own work, but he made sure to look at his ass in the mirror the next time he went to the bathroom.

His own cake was done and he slipped on the oven mitts and got it out of the oven. He set it aside to cool on a rack with some other cakes. He guessed his work on this cake was done, as Sangwon or whoever else would take care of the icing, so he wandered off outside the kitchen to the counter. He could see a lot of people already, some sitting down and some queuing up for their order. He didn’t notice there was someone else behind the counter until his shoulder was tapped, making him jump, as a gesture for Byungjoo to step aside. “Sorry, you were in my way. I didn’t mean to scare you!”

Byungjoo took in the sight of the man in front of him, no wonder he was put on counter duty. He was handsome and his skin was tanned, as well as a noticeable piercing in his eyebrow. His name tag read ‘Sangdo’, “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it… I was kinda just looking around or whatever.”

“Ohh, did Hansol not give you the tour or anything?” Sangdo had a slight pout. “I’ll give you one if you want? But by now you’ve probably seen everything…”

“Yeah when I came in last night I just,” he pointed, “sat over there. And then we went  upstairs to his room.”

Sangdo made a face, his eyebrow raising a little bit. “Should I ask further?”

Byungjoo let out a noise of frustration, “Yes! Because it wasn’t like whatever you were thinking. It was raining and he just took me in, nothing more and i’m just doing this job today to repay him.”

Sangdo chuckled, patting his shoulder. “Alright then, but don’t be surprised if Hansol asks you later to stay and work here for real.” He thought for a minute, he changed the subject (Byungjoo let out a sigh of relief to that). “Hey. Wanna try serving customers? My break is soon, so…”

Byungjoo nodded, squeezing past Sangdo so he could be next to the till.

Serving was more stressful than he thought- not only did he have to try and find the correct cake that went with the order he also had to wrap it up into a neat box if the customer wanted to take out. He wondered why Sangdo even trusted him with this job, he was better at making the cakes. Nonetheless, Byungjoo managed to get through the remainder of his shift (if it could even be called that) and sighed as he slumped in a chair near the entrance.

Hansol came to sit with him a few minutes after, icing smeared on his face and flour in his hair. “Hey! Did you enjoy yourself today?”

Byungjoo shrugged. “It was fine, except two of your employees almost murdered me.”

Hansol laughed. “Yeah, Dongsung told me about that. I promise they won’t kill you for real, I’ll keep you safe.”

Byungjoo’s chest felt strangely warm when Hansol said that, and he smiled. “Thanks. It was really fun, though, I liked it.”

“Well, good! You can work here a week or so to see if you really want to work here, and then you’re free to join.” Hansol smiled warmly, and Byungjoo’s cheeks felt hot.

“Thanks, I- I really appreciate it, you know.” Byungjoo checked the time on his phone then, to avoid saying anything else embarrassing. “It’s really late, I should probably, uh, head back. Jiho will be waiting, I’ll have to pick up dinner…”

“Oh! That’s fine.” Hansol paused a moment, and then said, “Do you want me to drive you home?”

“What?” Byungjoo asked lamely, eyebrows furrowing. “But- that’s- I can just walk, I promise.”

“No, no!” Hansol said hurriedly. “It’s fine, it’s fine! I- I want to.”

Byungjoo felt like dying for around the fourth time that day, but instead he just murmured, “Okay,” and waited for Hansol to close up shop before following him out the door.

Hansol drove a surprisingly cute car, very small and with a pink steering wheel cover. Byungjoo almost wanted to laugh, but instead he spent his time figuring out what exactly the scent was inside the car once he got in.  _Cinnamon… apple_? Byungjoo thought, eyes locked on the air freshener hanging from the rear view. It took him a moment to realize that Hansol was asking him a question.

“What?” Byungjoo asked, watching as Hansol stopped at the main street that ran beside the bakery.

“I said, where do you live? What street, what building, all that stuff.”

“Oh, uh.” Byungjoo thought for a moment, surveying where they were before pointing to the right. Hansol turned accordingly, and Byungjoo gave further directions to his apartment building as they drove.

Once Hansol pulled into the parking lot of the apartment building, Byungjoo felt somehow awkward, like he was supposed to… do something.

“Uh, thank you,” Byungjoo said softly, almost as if he was hoping Hansol wouldn’t hear.

Sadly, he did, and he smiled brightly at Byungjoo. “It wasn’t a problem!” Then, “Oh, wait, before I forget! Give me your phone number.”

“My- my phone number?” Byungjoo repeated, pausing with his hand on the car door.

“Don’t worry,” Hansol said, a teasing note to his voice as he dug his phone out of his pocket, “this isn’t a challenge to your heterosexuality. I just need it in case I need to call you for shift changes, or if something happens.”

Byungjoo spluttered but told Hansol his phone number and in turn Hansol gave him his. Byungjoo didn’t feel like digging his phone out of his own pocket, so as he walked up to his building and upstairs he kept repeating it to himself. Then he felt like a lovestruck high school girl and thought to himself,  _this is definitely a challenge to my heterosexuality._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The movie Annabelle, McDonald's, and Hansol himself challenge Byungjoo's manliness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> r.i.p kim byungjoo 1994-2015 (technically 2014 since that's when we wrote thus but whatever)

Byungjoo leaned back against the wall, hugging his pillow tight. He was relaxing at home before going off to work at Hansol’s bakery- he’d been employed there for a few months now. And he’d managed to get the hang of things, like mixing the batter and putting what in where. “Where’re you off to today, Jiho?” He asked the other, who was sitting on the bed opposite in almost the exact same position as Byungjoo.

“Dunno, I guess I might go see Hojoon…” He saw the way Byungjoo rolled his eyes and added, “and look for a job. I promise I’ll look for a job, alright?”

“It’s not that hard. Look harder and you might get one, we need the money for our apartment y’know…”

Jiho groaned, grabbing his own pillow and smushing it into his face. It was way too early to be talking about something so serious. “Go to work already. You’re giving me a headache.”

Byungjoo snorted, getting up off his bed and grabbing his work clothes. The walk to work wasn’t entirely unpleasant (he kept saying he needed to save up to buy a car, but his paychecks usually ended up going to food or bills) and as soon as he walked into the bakery the smell of baking pastries and sweet icing hit his nose. He inhaled deeply and slipped behind the counter, heading for the kitchen and waving grandly at those in the kitchen.

“Morning!” Dongsung said brightly, smiling as Byungjoo walked past. “Hansol said to tell you he’d be a bit, he had to run some errands.”

Byungjoo felt more than a little disappointed, but just smiled and said, “Alright. What should I start with?”

Dongsung put him in charge of filling cannolis and Byungjoo, having done this several times before, quickly set about his work. To pass the time, Dongsung started telling Byungjoo about his boyfriend Sehyuk, detailing what he and Sehyuk had done over the weekend. Byungjoo briefly imagined him and Hansol going to the fair themselves, and then stared at his half-filled cannoli in shock.

“What’s the matter?” Dongsung asked, raising his eyebrows at Byungjoo.

“Oh- uh- nothing, it’s just… I’m having a crisis I think.” Byungjoo said flatly, finishing the cannoli and setting it aside.

“About what?”

Byungjoo paused, and then said, “My sexuality, I think.”

Instead of laughing, like Byungjoo expected, Dongsung just nodded sagely. “I wish you luck.” Then, “It’s about Hansol, right?”

Byungjoo’s silence was answer enough, and Dongsung laughed a bit before returning to his task of mixing up more chocolate filling. “It’ll be fine,” Dongsung said reassuringly, passing the new batch of chocolate filling to Byungjoo.

Byungjoo wasn’t so sure.

 

Byungjoo just about finished piping the cannolis full of chocolate, Dongsung still chatting animatedly to him and half on half off supervising Byungjoo. Dongsung didn’t spare the details, telling everything like it was when it was about him and Sehyuk. Byungjoo could only nod in understanding and let out ‘uh-huhs’, not really paying attention to Dongsung now that Hansol had appeared from the main shop and into the kitchen where the two were working. Byungjoo instantly felt his face heat up a little, tinging his cheeks with the lightest shade of pink. Hansol waved at the two, coming over to greet them. “Hey you two, working hard I presume?” He laughed, noticing Dongsung and Byungjoo were just standing around looking at the cannolis as if they’d sell themselves. “Has Dongsung talked you to death yet, Byungjoo?”

“Hey, we were working pretty hard! You just came in when we both just finished up.” Byungjoo frowned, more like a pout than anything, and crossed his arms.

“The kid’s right, we were just about done when you came in. What’ve you got for us to do- and I have not talked him to death, he likes my company anyway. He probably needs someone talking to him while he stands there and fills cannolis.”

Hansol shrugged in reply to Dongsung with a half hearted ‘I guess so’. But to Byungjoo he smiled more than before, exposing his teeth a little. “Why don’t you help me ice a cake? We can do it together, like we did before. I’ll teach you a bit more this time.”

Dongsung gave Byungjoo a look before patting his shoulder and leaving the kitchen to go tend to the counter. Byungjoo felt his face flush a darker shade of pink, thinking back to when he last iced a cake with Hansol (both the first and last time he’d done it). Hansol had given the piping back to Byungjoo and held his hands, guiding him on where to go. It was enough to probably give Byungjoo a small heart attack.

This time, however, Hansol let Byungjoo ice it all by himself while he stood beside him and watched. Byungjoo felt extremely pressured but managed to make a decent design on the fondant-covered cake, to which Hansol seemed extremely thrilled.

Hansol was in the middle of checking Byungjoo’s work when Byungjoo blurted out, “I’m having a crisis.”

Hansol raised an eyebrow and carefully re-iced a portion of the design that Byungjoo had messed up. “What’s the matter?”

“Uh, uh, well, you know how- uh. You know how I was kind of stupid and just yelled, ‘I’m not gay’?”

Hansol nodded, straightening after he’d finished correcting the design. “Yeah, why?”

“Well, uh. Well, I. Uh. I think I- Do you like going to the theatre?” Byungjoo asked, and Hansol pulled a face at the weird topic change.

“Yes, I do. But what were you going to say?”

“Do you like horror movies?” Byungjoo continued, feeling sweat roll down the back of his shirt. This is stupid Byungjoo, he thought to himself, smiling uncomfortably.

Hansol stared at him a moment before laughing, putting down his piping bag. “Are you trying to tell me that you want to go on a date?”

“Yes!” Byungjoo exclaimed, but then, “Uh- well, no- maybe?”

Hansol laughed again, smiling. “I’d love to. What day?”

Byungjoo wheezed. “You mean we’re- you’re actually going to- what?”

Hansol put his hand on Byungjoo’s shoulder, squeezing it. “Byungjoo, when you ask someone out, you’re not supposed to ask more questions. Just accept it.”

“U-uh,” Byungjoo stammered, sweating more profusely now that Hansol was closer, “Okay. Okay.” He fanned his face, trying to cool down.

“Are you into horror films, Byungjoo? You don’t seem the type.” Hansol asked inquisitively, spinning the cake around slowly to get a good look. He grinned, pleased with how it looked. “Good job by the way, it looks great.”

Byungjoo felt his stomach churn, he felt like vomiting from nervousness. “Y-Yeah I love horror!!” Fuck. That was a huge lie, he hated horror. He screamed everytime he saw a dead body on tv, how could he handle a film full of them? “And, uh, thanks.” He squeaked out.

“You look really sick and pale, you’re practically white. Are you okay, Byungjoo?” The corners of Hansol’s mouth drooped, worried for the poor boy.

“I’m chipper, I feel really great, it’s probably just my makeup making me look pale!” Byungjoo choked out, pushing past Hansol. “I need to go ask Dongsung something, I’ll be back.” He practically ran away, leaving Hansol alone with the cake.

 

Dongsung sat down with Byungjoo at a table, telling Sangdo it was his turn to work at the counter, and just stared at Byungjoo while looking concerned. “You look really sick, what happened?”

“I asked him out on a date! I did it. But it was so awkward I feel like just leaving this Earth, honestly.” He put his face in his hands, “I’m so nervous.”

“Where’re you going? And if you’re gonna be sick, go be sick in the bathroom.”

“To see a horror film, I said I was totally into them but really. I hate them so much, I get really scared. I’m going to be crying like, ten minute in.”

Dongsung couldn’t help but laugh at the poor boy. “Well… I guess it’d be a good opportunity for you to get close to him? You can hug him or something because you’re scared, he likes hugging anyway so…”

Byungjoo suddenly felt slightly reassured, Dongsung seemed to be wiser than he was and advice from him seemed textbook. “Yeah, you’re right… But what if he thinks I’m really lame?”

“Calm down, he really likes you. He wouldn’t put you down for a silly thing like that. I mean, I really like romcoms and stuff but Sehyuk kinda doesn’t and he gets really bored. I don’t put him down or lose interest in him because of that.” Dongsung kept on reassuring Byungjoo, trying to at least get him to not look so pale and sick.

It seemed to have worked because some colour had come back to his face and the sweating seemed to had stopped. “Thanks, Dongsung. You’re really good at this kinda stuff…”

Dongsung smiled, patting Byungjoo’s shoulder. “It’s no problem. I hope it goes well!”

 

After work had ended for the day, Byungjoo lingered to wait for Hansol, who was currently cleaning up things. Hansol didn’t seem all that surprised to see Byungjoo sitting near the door and motioned for Byungjoo to exit so he could lock up, and once he had Byungjoo awkwardly touched his arm to prevent him from walking away.

“What is it?” Hansol asked, his smile warm, and it took Byungjoo a moment to remember what he wanted to say.

“I- uh- do you want to go today? I mean- to the movies.”

“Right now?” Hansol asked, turning so that he was facing Byungjoo. When Byungjoo nodded, he smiled wider and said, “Sure!”

Byungjoo exhaled and followed Hansol to his car, sliding into the passenger seat and resting his forehead on the cool glass of the window. His face was so hot, it was almost like he had a fever, but no- it was just a bad case of Hansol.

The theatre wasn’t far from the bakery and Hansol held Byungjoo’s hand while they were standing in line, making Byungjoo’s nerves worse. He almost hoped that Hansol would suggest they watch something other than a horror, but Hansol went ahead and asked for two tickets for Annabelle. Byungjoo almost felt like crying, because he’d seen previews for it and it looked awful.

Hansol, however, was excited and squeezed Byungjoo’s hand tightly as they funneled into Screen 6. Nearby, Byungjoo saw that another screen was showing the Boxtrolls and he briefly wished that he’d suggested that instead of a horror movie.

But Hansol was dragging him to a seat in the center of the middle section and Byungjoo regretted ever suggesting this at all. However, he didn’t regret Hansol leaning against him or squeezing his hand as the previews began, so maybe it wouldn’t be all bad.

 

Byungjoo remained calm until the film started. Not even a jumpscare had happened but the eeriness of the start had already set him on edge. He couldn’t handle the idea of a ghost or whatever it was possessing an item in the house, he didn’t understand why they just didn’t get rid of it. The doll was creepy as fuck anyway. Every time the doll was shown in a closeup he couldn’t help but just look away, avoiding the screen and instead looking at Hansol. He barely showed up in the dim lights, only the light from the screen illuminated him. Hansol looked a lot more intrigued by the film than Byungjoo was, he tapped Byungjoo on the shoulder. He quietly whispered, “Are you okay? Do you need to go to the bathroom?” To which Byungjoo shook his head, keeping quiet. He couldn’t move right now, the film made him just want to hide himself away. As soon as he looked back to the screen, it was the first jumpscare and he ended up screaming. Instantly he covered his mouth, his face going bright red out of embarrassment.

He breathed heavy. “Fuck… that was really scary.” He let his thoughts out loud, causing Hansol to snicker beside him.

“I thought you were into horror?”

“I am… this is just. Really scary.” Byungjoo made a sour face, trying his hardest to turn his attention back to the film. He’d rather stare at Hansol for an hour and a half, to be honest he was glad the film was short, but suddenly he felt an arm wrap around his shoulder. He looked to the side at Hansol and saw him smile, he couldn’t help but smile back a little. Byungjoo curled his legs up on the seat, hugging them as the film continued and started to get more into depth. Now the jumpscares started to be more frequent and the suspense started to heighten, he squeaked every time a jumpscare happened. He tried to be as quiet as he could but, that just failed. He could hear a group of people laughing at him behind them, he covered his face in both shame and embarrassment. Hansol noticed Byungjoo hiding himself away and the snickers behind them, the impersonations as well. He turned his head to face the group and hissed a ‘fuck off’.

Once the movie was over, Byungjoo felt like he’d shaved 10 years off of his life. Meanwhile, Hansol was smiling and holding onto Byungjoo’s arm, so Byungjoo thought it was probably worth it. Hansol offered to drive Byungjoo home as usual, and when Hansol pulled into a parking space, Byungjoo turned to him awkwardly.

“Uh- thank you, I enjoyed it a lot.” Byungjoo said, shifting a bit.

Hansol smiled at him. “Thank you too, I liked it! I hope we can do it again sometime, it was fun.”

Byungjoo nodded, offering a small smile, and then he exhaled. “So, uh…” He paused, silence growing awkward, before he leaned over and quickly kissed Hansol. He was aiming for Hansol’s mouth, but got the corner of it instead, and afterwards he evacuated the car with a hurried “okay bye” and speed-walked to his apartment building.

“Fuck, Jiho,” He yelled loudly once he’d entered his apartment, flopping onto the couch beside his roommate, who was trying to enjoy a sandwich.

“What? Did you fuck something up?” Jiho asked around a mouthful of food, and Byungjoo groaned.

“No, I kissed him.”

“Sweet fucking lord, you have bigger balls than I thought.” Jiho patted him on the shoulder. “Good job.”

Byungjoo groaned again. He flopped his body over Jiho’s lap, groaning even louder. “I don’t wanna go into work tomorrow. I’m too embarrassed, I’ll explode if I go in.” Jiho set his sandwich down on the small coffee table in front of them, brushing his hands off on Byungjoo’s jeans. He combed his fingers through Byungjoo’s hair, patting his head.

“Wanna say you got somethin’ comin’ up with your family? And you have to go otherwise your Mum or whatever will get mad.”

Byungjoo nodded against Jiho’s lap. “You’re the best. You’re my best friend, I love you Jiho.”

Jiho sighed. “You’re gay.” He then shifted Byungjoo off of his lap. “…love you too, but I really need a piss. So. Deal with yourself right now for about two minutes.”

Byungjoo nodded, lying back down onto the sofa. As soon as he shut his eyes, he was starting to just feel sleepy. He let himself just fall asleep on the sofa, taking all of the space up for himself.

 

Byungjoo felt something shaking him, he woke up with a start. He bolted up, hitting his head against something… or someone it seemed as they shouted ‘fuck! Ow!’ as soon as contact was made. “Jiho?” Byungjoo called out, rubbing his eyes.

“Yeah it’s Jiho, get up. You slept on the sofa all night and your back probably hurts. I used your phone to call Hansol and tell him you got something coming up with your family. He said he hopes it all goes well, but he… also said he wanted to meet your family at some point.” Jiho relayed, rubbing his head.

Byungjoo nodded, trying to take all of this in. He was tired, hungry, his back hurt and he was most of all stressed. Stressed over Hansol, over this whole lying thing and over Hansol wanting to meet his family at some point. “Can you get breakfast?”

Jiho was apparently one step ahead of him as he got up and popped to the kitchen, bringing back two plates with toast. “Ta-da! Toast. We can go out for food later and eat something filling.”

Byungjoo thanked Jiho before starting to eat, sitting up to make room for Jiho on the sofa. “I feel really bad for lying to Hansol. Maybe I should go in later.”

Jiho shrugged, “if you want to. But he’s probably gonna ask you how it went and you’re gonna have to bullshit. But I guess you have less to bullshit if you go in later rather than tomorrow.”

“Do you think he’ll kiss me too?” He suddenly blurted out, feeling his face heat up a little.

“Yeah, probably. He’ll probably sweep you off your feet, man.” Jiho sighed, he kinda wished he was Byungjoo at this point. He wanted to be swept off his feet as well, in all honesty.

Byungjoo could only nod, finishing off his toast. He looked at the time, it was half past two in the afternoon. He would’ve gone to work about seven in the morning, so he’d missed the majority. “Should I go in now? To work.”

Jiho waved his hands, shooing Byungjoo away. “Go, go. I’ll bum around at home, I guess or I’ll call someone up to hang out with.”

Byungjoo got up and went to go get dressed, shoving fresh clothes on. He put his coat on before waving to Jiho and then leaving their apartment. “Bye! Have fun with whatever!”

 

Byungjoo hastily ran to work, bursting through the door huffing and puffing. The distance killed him, he was way too far. As fit as he was, running wasn’t his thing. He waved at Sangdo who was on the counter, who waved back, and then went into the kitchen. Byungjoo saw Hansol with his back turned, speaking to Sanggyun. Apparently this was a good opportunity to pull a very Hansol type gesture, giving Hansol a taste of his own medicine. He wrapped his arms around Hansol, causing the other to jump. “Hi.”

Once Hansol realized who it was, he relaxed and wrapped the fingers of one hand around one of Byungjoo’s wrists. “Hey, I thought you had family stuff.”

Byungjoo had momentarily forgot about his earlier excuse, and he turned his head so that his face was hidden in Hansol’s hair. “Yeah, it’s fine now. Mum said, uh- Mum said hi, she wants to meet you too.”

Hansol laughed a bit and moved his hand to grab one of Byungjoo’s, squeezing it. “Good, I’m glad everything’s fine, and I’m glad you decided to come in anyway.”

Byungjoo lifted his head just as Hansol turned his and Byungjoo’s breath hitched. He thought briefly about kissing Hansol before Sanggyun cleared his throat loudly, leaning onto the nearby prep table.

“I’m still here, you know.” Sanggyun said, picking at one of his fingernails. “Actually, you know what? This is too gay for me, I’m leaving.” Then he walked away, muttering something about being tainted.

Byungjoo went to move away but not before Hansol kissed his cheek, causing a blush to form across Byungjoo’s cheeks. After a moment’s pause, Byungjoo said quietly, “So you’re- you’re fine with it?”

“Fine with what?” Hansol asked, turning so that he could face Byungjoo better, but Byungjoo kept his arms around Hansol’s neck.

“Fine with- with this.” Byungjoo pecked Hansol’s lips for emphasis, and Hansol smiled.

“Of course, I like kisses. I like your kisses.”

Byungjoo tilted his head slightly so that their lips met again and Hansol reached out and put his arms around Byungjoo’s waist, pulling their bodies together. Byungjoo whined a bit and pulled back slightly, and Hansol released him.

“Sorry, too much?” Hansol asked, and Byungjoo nodded slightly. Hansol gave him a chaste kiss before walking a few steps away to where he was mixing together what looked to be filling for cream puffs.

“I’ll be right back,” Byungjoo said, hurrying off to the bathroom. Once he was there, he examined himself in the mirror, patting his hot cheeks before touching his fingertips to his lips, where Hansol’s had been just a few minutes earlier.

He sighed happily and texted Jiho, proclaiming that he was in love. Jiho responded with, ‘oh my god youre so gay’. To which Byungjoo just read, not bothering to reply. He fixed his hair in the mirror, setting his fringe back into place. He heard a knocking on the door before Hansol came in, “you alright?”

Byungjoo took his hands away from his hand, looking like he just got caught red handed. “Yeah- I just… uh. I needed to do stuff.” Hansol raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off, not bothering to press further.

“I think it’s time to get out of the bathroom and actually get work done, because I’m not sure staring at your own reflection is something I’d pay you for.”

Byungjoo nodded in affirmation, leaving the bathroom with Hansol. He washed his hands in the kitchen sink before taking a look what Hansol was doing. “What’d you want me to do? Should I make up some cake batter and bake a cake… or….”

“Help me with the cream puffs, make the casings for them.” Hansol instructed him, pointing him to the mixer where Byungjoo could get busy. Byungjoo started to silently mix up the batter for the outside of the cream puffs, he had both this on his mind and his apparent love for Hansol. He briefly wondered where Dongsung was, he could do with a helping hand and someone chatting his ear off.

“Where’s Dongsung?” He asked, looking over his shoulder at Hansol.

“He’s out to buy more ingredients, probably dragging Sehyuk along with him.”

 

Dongsung came through the door about half an hour later, with a much smaller man following behind him. They were both carrying plenty of shopping bags, Byungjoo peeked his head out of the kitchen after he heard a ruckus. Hansol brushed past him, greeting Dongsung and the small man. Byungjoo followed after him like a lost puppy, waving at Dongsung. “Hey Byungjoo! I see you ended up coming into work, I brought my boyfriend with me! He helped me with the shopping.” Dongsung exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.

Byungjoo let out an ‘oh’ before replying, he always imagined Sehyuk looking different than this. He imagined him as a taller man, not a smaller one. He fiddled with his hands, “hi. It’s, uh, nice to meet you. I’m Byungjoo.” His introduction couldn’t possibly be more awkward, he swore he was cursed. He stuck out his hand for a handshake, surprised that when Sehyuk grabbed it he gripped tight. Apparently he was small but packed a punch, much like Hansol in comparison.

“I’m Park Sehyuk, Dongsung probably already told you more than you should know about me.” Sehyuk laughed, letting go of Byungjoo’s hand.

“Go sit and chat with Sehyuk, Byungjoo. Dongsung and I can work on some stuff, I’m giving you your break now rather than later.” Hansol ushered, going back to the kitchen with Dongsung.

“How old’re you, Byungjoo?” Sehyuk asked once they sat down at a table.

“Twenty, I turned twenty earlier this year.”

Sehyuk made a face. “Do you know how old I am?”

Byungjoo shook his head. “That was one thing Dongsung never really told me. Uh, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Sehyuk exhaled, looking a little embarrassed. “I’m like, twenty four. I’m four whole years older than you… I must seem so weird.” He wheezed, well it was more like his own weird sounding laughter.

“That’s not a lot, I mean, you could be eight years older than me.” Byungjoo shrugged, trying to give a little bit of reassurance.

“Don’t say that, I could be eight years older than someone sitting in here.” Sehyuk sighed, leaning back in his chair. “How do you know Hansol, anyway?”

“Well, uh. I don’t have a car so I got caught out in the rain a few months back and he lent me some clothes and let me stay the night. Then he told me I could work here to pay him back and…” Byungjoo trailed off, hoping Sehyuk got the picture.

Sehyuk nodded, sitting upright once more. “So, are you dating?”

Byungjoo paused for a moment before sighing and responding with, “I have no clue. We- we kiss sometimes and we went to the movies but I’m not sure.” Then, after a moment’s pause, “How did you ask Dongsung out?”

Sehyuk shrugged. “It just kind of happened. Our first… date, I guess, was when we happened to be at the same restaurant. I was trying to enjoy a night by myself, but Dongsung got stood up by his date and he asked if he could sit with me. So it was kind of an accident.”

Byungjoo frowned. “That doesn’t really help.”

“Well, if you want to ask Hansol out for a better date than the movies, you just have to do it. It’s not that hard, honestly.” Sehyuk stood up, patting Byungjoo’s shoulder and smiling. “You can do it, you’re not that pathetic.”

Byungjoo was beginning to think he was that pathetic, and he laid his head on the table, groaning.

 

Byungjoo had been back to work for a good hour or more, contemplating in his head how to ask Hansol out. He formulated a plan to ask him to dinner, he wanted to take Hansol to a proper restaurant but… he was too poor for that. He weighed his options, Dominos take away or McDonalds. Maybe when he had more money he could take Hansol out for a proper meal, but right now that was a no-no. Byungjoo started to clean up his mixing bowl in the sink, scrubbing his frustrations away. He turned his head every now and then, trying to keep an eye out for Hansol. A finger tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to turn around. Byungjoo had rehearsed his speech to Hansol in his head over and over while scrubbing, and he was totally ready. “Go out to McDonalds with me!” That wasn’t how he was supposed to say it, and once he turned around. It wasn’t even Hansol. It was Sangwon, who bore the most confused look on his face.

“Uh… sure? Or like, was that for someone else. But d’you mind washing up my stuff for me?”

Byungjoo groaned in annoyance. “Okay. I’ll wash up for you but, uh, I’m sorry but I didn’t mean to… ask you to McDonalds. I meant Hansol.” He took the plates and bowls from Sangwon and put them into the soapy water, turning away and getting back to cleaning. His face was as red as a tomato, only this could happen to him. Sehyuk was wrong, he is this pathetic.

Sangwon snorted, “McDonalds? Classy. Thanks by the way, n’ good luck casanova.” He jeered at Byungjoo, walking away from him while laughing. Out of the corner of Byungjoo’s eye he could see Sangwon relay what just happened to Sanggyun, causing the long haired boy to look back at Byungjoo and start laughing. Byungjoo felt a shove at his shoulder all of a sudden and he couldn’t help but get annoyed.

“Fuck off, I’m shit!” Byungjoo growled, not bothering to see who was behind him.

“Uhm, what happened to you?” The shove and voice came from Hansol, who looked surprised at Byungjoo’s sudden outburst.

Byungjoo squeaked, attempting to shrink himself away with the overwhelming embarrassment. “I thought you were Sangwon. He, uh… nothing don’t worry.” Everything that came out of his mouth felt like metaphorical vomit, all of his words came out in shambles. He choked out, his hands beginning to feel clammy. “Do you wanna go out with me? To McDonalds.”

“Oh. Uh…” Hansol paused for a while, looking like he was deep in thought, before he said, “McDonalds?”

“Yeah, I- I’m sorry. That’s lame, I’m sorry.” Byungjoo covered his face with his hands, beginning to regret asking at all.

“No, no, it’s fine- it’s just. Nobody’s ever asked me… on a date… to McDonalds.”

Byungjoo peeked at Hansol through his fingers, and Hansol smiled.

“So, sure.”

Byungjoo exhaled, hands falling away from his face, and Hansol tiptoed slightly to kiss the tip of Byungjoo’s nose. Hansol took Byungjoo’s hands in his own, gripping them tightly and lacing their fingers together. Byungjoo paused, inches away from Hansol’s face. “Wanna go now?”

“I’ll put Dongsung in charge of shop. Let’s go.”

 

“I cannot believe you ordered a kid’s meal,” Hansol said as they sat down, and Byungjoo shrugged.

“What can I say, McNuggets are good.”

Hansol laughed. “You’re really cute, you know that?”

Byungjoo huffed. “I am not cute, I’m- I’m manly.”

“Manly people don’t order McNuggets and apple slices.” Hansol pointed out, and Byungjoo pouted.

“Well what did you order?” Byungjoo asked after taking a bite of his chicken nugget, and Hansol proudly presented his own container of nuggets. Byungjoo gasped, scandalized, and pointed at Hansol’s nuggets. “You ordered McNuggets too!”

“Yes, but,” Hansol paused to open his container and turn it so that Byungjoo could see inside, “I ordered the 12-count, not the 6-count.”

Byungjoo, like the manly man he was, threw one of his apple slices at Hansol’s head. It bounced off his head and landed in the floor, and Hansol stared at it with his mouth open.

“That was a waste of apple, how could you do that?”

In reply, Byungjoo threw another slice at Hansol. However, this one was thinner than the last, and thus stuck to the side of Hansol’s face instead of just bouncing off. Byungjoo started laughing so hard he wheezed, and eventually Hansol started laughing too. And then Hansol threw a chicken nugget at Byungjoo’s face. It wasn’t until Hansol’s face started to mimic Byungjoo’s embarrassed blush that he started to get concerned, his face was probably redder than that by now. Hansol was wheezing, borderline screaming by this point. While in McDonalds, of all places. Byungjoo could feel the stares from the adults and children sitting around them, he fumbled with his hands before reaching over the table and clasping his hands over Hansol’s mouth. “Shut up! People are staring and your laugh is weird, you sound like you’re dying.” He wanted to add ‘it’s worse than Sehyuk’s donkey laugh’ but he chose not to, he didn’t want to make Hansol laugh more. Hansol’s laughter was muffled behind Byungjoo’s hands, warm breath was on his hands and Byungjoo could feel his hands just getting clammy. “Stop laughing! You’re making my hands disgusting!” He took his hands away after about a minute, deciding that Hansol should’ve calmed down by then. He looked at his hands, they were practically slobbered all over. They looked in the same state as Hansol’s face now that Byungjoo got a good look, he noticed that Hansol laughed to the point where he started to cry. “You alright?”

Hansol fanned his face, grinning still. “Yeah. Just about I think.” Once he’d recovered, he started eating his chicken nuggets instead of throwing them at Byungjoo. Then, in passing, he said, “You know, your laugh is really cute.”

Byungjoo choked on one of his own nuggets. “What?” He replied once he’d finished coughing.

Hansol practically giggled, and repeated what he’d said. Byungjoo stood up and announced he needed to go to the bathroom, and walked away hurriedly before Hansol could say anything.

“Byungjoo, you’re a grown man.” Byungjoo said to his reflection once he was in the bathroom, hands braced on the counter. “You’re capable, Byungjoo. You can do it.” He turned on one of the faucets, cupping his hands to catch some of it, and then splashed it on his face. Sadly, it ended up in his hair and on most of his clothing, further proving that he was probably not actually capable of anything.

“Shit, fuck, now he’ll know I did that. I’m going to die.” Byungjoo groaned to himself, grabbing some paper towels from the dispenser to his right. After a while of scrubbing at his clothes, it became clear that it wasn’t working as well as he had hoped, and his eyes fell on the hand drier nearby.

“God, this is so stupid,” Byungjoo whispered as he walked to the hand dryer and pressed the button, holding his shirt tail underneath the drier. “Why did I do this? Why.” Sehyuk was wrong, he was so wrong. Byungjoo was pathetic, he wasn’t capable of anything apparently apart from embarrassing himself. He sat under the hand dryer after making sure his shirt was dry, tapping the button and making sure his hair was getting dried. He thought this couldn’t get any worse until a lanky man pushed open the bathroom door and stared at the sight in front of him, a bright purple haired boy drying his hair with a hand dryer in Mcdonalds.

“Sir? Are you alright?” The lanky man asked, looking confused.

“Yeah.. I… just kinda got a little wet”. Byungjoo stammered, standing up and bashing his head on the hand dryer. “Fuck!” He rubbed his head, stepping away from the hand dryer while frowning. “Sorry for… inconvenience”. Byungjoo rushed out of the bathroom as fast as he could, he probably left a Byungjoo shaped cloud in front of the man. He returned back to his seat the other side of Hansol, Byungjoo’s face was still a little red.

“Byungjoo? You look like you’ve been to Hell and back”. Hansol chuckled, reaching over to pat his shoulder.

“I think I have been to Hell and back, if I had to be honest”. Byungjoo replied, sighing before popping a chicken nugget into his mouth.

“Want a consolation prize?” Hansol asked, leaning over the table to get closer to Byungjoo’s face.

“What is it?” Byungjoo asked, feeling his face get hot again from the proximity between Hansol and himself.

“It’s no fun if you know! So d’you still want it?” Hansol grinned, poking at Byungjoo’s nose. Byungjoo scrunched up his nose in response, giving a slow nod. “Close your eyes!” Byungjoo followed the instructions, feeling nervous all of a sudden. He felt soft lips against his own and hands cupping his face, he opened his eyes and instantly shut them again. Byungjoo briefly felt something wet touch his bottom lip before Hansol pulled away, looking extremely pleased with himself. Hansol brushed a thumb over Byungjoo’s lips before taking his hands away as well, only to then take Byungjoo’s into his own and lace their fingers. By now Byungjoo was internally screaming, he didn’t believe in God before but right now he probably could think about it. “Did you like your prize?”

“Yes!” Byungjoo replied enthusiastically, instantly covering his mouth. He didn’t mean to sound that happy about it.

“Well someone seems to be happy, maybe I should do that more often. I like seeing you smile, y’know?” Hansol shook their hands, a toothy grin settling on his face. Byungjoo squeezed their hands, he could feel his face heating up again.

“I like seeing you smile too.” Byungjoo choked out, he can’t believe he just said that. That was probably the gayest thing he’s ever said until he suddenly he blurt out, “I’m gay.” Hansol’s eyes went wide before he snickered, “I’m gay too.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Come to terms with your homosexuality, Byungjoo. Then do something with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and here's the last chapter. but never fear, i have a literal ton of stuff written in this au, which i'll be posting in the coming weeks!!!!!!!!!! i hope you enjoyed this fic and i hope you stick around for all the others in this au uvu

“So,” Byungjoo began as he sat down across from Jiho, “Apparently I’m gay.”

Jiho snorted, setting his phone down on the table. “Tell me something I don’t know, Byungjoo.”

“No, like- I told Hansol.”

“Wow. Good job, gaylord, you finally did something good with your life.” When Byungjoo frowned, Jiho reached over and ruffled his hair. “Don’t look so sad. You’ve probably got a boyfriend now.”

Byungjoo thought for a moment, then smiled. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

 

As soon as Byungjoo stepped into work the next day, he was immediately assaulted by Dongsung. Being that Dongsung was heavier than he, the sudden hug toppled the both of them, and Byungjoo wheezed as Dongsung’s full weight fell on top of him.

“You! You and Hansol!” Dongsung yelled into Byungjoo’s ear, and Byungjoo winced. “Sorry. But! I’m so excited, you finally did it.”

“Ugh- get off me- did what?”

Dongsung rolled off of Byungjoo and stood up, smoothing down his shirt. “You confessed didn’t you?”

“No, it was more… uh. I don’t know, I made myself available?” Byungjoo got up slowly, brushing dirt off of his pants. “I just- all I did was tell him I was gay.”

“Oh. Well, close enough!” Dongsung hugged Byungjoo again, and Byungjoo sighed. “Tell him you love him though. Cherish him.” Dongsung hissed into Byungjoo’s ear, and Byungjoo shied away.

“Yeah, okay. Thanks I guess.”

Dongsung winked at him as he walked away, and Byungjoo sighed once more. Now that Dongsung mentioned Hansol, he couldn’t help but wonder where he was even. Byungjoo hadn’t seen him since he came into work and he would’ve popped into the kitchen by now, he put on his thinking face. But shrugged his thoughts away, he was probably doing something important if he had to miss work. Byungjoo went to his usual job of mixing up cake batter, which he’d admittedly gotten good at, and baking cakes ready to be iced. It kept both his hands and mind busy, which was good for him. It wasn’t until he had put two cakes in the oven that he saw Sangdo peek his head through the door that he turned his attention away from cakes, he noticed Sangdo looked particularly happier than usual and he was waving his hands at Byungjoo like a madman. Byungjoo decided to just leave the cakes, it’s not like they bake via him staring at them anyway, and see what the commotion is all about. As soon as he stepped out of the door, he immediately noticed what the commotion was about. Hansol had finally come into work, bearing a bar with two balls each end in his left eyebrow. Byungjoo gulped, his eyes widening a little. “H-hey.” He stammered, slipping out from behind the counter to move in front of Hansol.

“Hey hey, did Dongsung take good care of shop while I was gone?” Hansol asked casually, as if he hadn’t been missing for three hours and gotten more metal on his face.

“Yeah- your eyebrow.” Byungjoo gestured to the new piercing, feeling slightly curious.

Hansol pointed at his new piercing, “this? D’you like it? Sangdo said he liked it because we match now. It still kinda hurts though, but do you think it suits me?”

Suddenly, Byungjoo felt weight upon his shoulders. It was like when your significant other came out of the dressing room and asked if their new shirt or whatever looked okay. “I, uhm, really like it. I think its really cool.” Replace cool with hot, and there was Byungjoo’s honest answer.

“Really!? I wasn’t too sure about it but if you like it, I’m happy with it.” Hansol grinned, looking like a child who had just received a bag of sweets.

Byungjoo nodded vigorously, grabbing Hansol’s hand and taking him into the kitchen. “Sorry, I needed to check on the cakes… but I didn’t wanna leave you or anything before asking where you were.”

“Oh, right. I was gone for quite a while, huh? My piercing took about ten minutes, what with forms and all that shit. Well…” Hansol unzipped his jacket, taking it off and tying it around his waist. There was a medium sized bandage on his elbow, it covered most of the area. “I got a new tattoo, you can’t see it yet though. It needs to heal n’ all that because it’s kinda big and coloured.”

Byungjoo was extremely curious now about what it was, he desperately wanted to know. Hansol did what Byungjoo thought was impossible and became a lot more attractive in about a day, though he thought Hansol got more attractive each passing day to be fair. “I wanna know what it is though…”

“It’s a surpriiiise.” Hansol teased, poking at Byungjoo’s sides.

Byungjoo pouted, but let the issue rest. He’d find out later for sure.

 

It was starting to get dark outside, about time to close up shop. Hansol had already said his goodbyes to his staff, minus Byungjoo who hung back, and finished washing up the dishes. Hansol pulled down the blinds and drew them, shutting his windows off from view. Byungjoo just sat on a table and watched, chatting to Jiho via text and playing games. Once Hansol was done, he came over to where Byungjoo was sitting and cupped Byungjoo’s face in his hands to draw his attention away from his phone.

Byungjoo blinked up at Hansol and Hansol smiled, leaning down slightly to kiss Byungjoo briefly. Byungjoo blushed and looked away, but Hansol didn’t release his face.

“Do you want to stay the night?” Hansol asked, and Byungjoo returned his gaze to Hansol.

“Um… do you want me to?” Byungjoo asked and Hansol laughed and pulled Byungjoo in for a hug.

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want you to.”

Byungjoo nodded, hoping Hansol felt it against his chest, when Hansol pulled back he kissed Byungjoo’s forehead.

“We can watch movies or something. We can cuddle!” Hansol said brightly, and Byungjoo smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll text Jiho, he’s expecting me to bring home dinner.”

“Well, you can text him upstairs. Come on.”

 

Hansol let Byungjoo pick out his own pajamas for the night and Byungjoo purposefully dug in Hansol’s drawers until he found the kitten shirt that he’d worn all those months ago. When he returned from the bathroom in the shirt and a pair of shorts, Hansol snorted and said, “Still as cute as ever.”

Byungjoo flopped onto the bed, groaning. “I’m not cute, I’m manly.”

“Yeah, sure, that cat shirt is the most manly thing I’ve ever seen.” Hansol said sarcastically, beginning to rifle through drawers for something of his own to wear. Once he found something, he hurried down to the bathroom and then returned later in a pair of boxers and a tank top.

Byungjoo couldn’t stop himself from staring and Hansol laughed, posing dramatically for effect. “Like what you see?” Hansol asked as he made a stupid face, and Byungjoo laughed.

“Yeah, I- I do.” Byungjoo couldn’t keep the blush off his face, and Hansol winked before he started looking around for a movie to watch. Conversationally, Byungjoo asked, “How many tattoos do you have?”

Hansol shrugged. “A lot. I started with just a couple and now there’s- y’know.” He gestured to his arms.

“What was your first one, then?” Byungjoo asked, sitting cross-legged on the bed and watching Hansol intently.

“I’ll show you later.” Hansol said, turning his head to wink at Byungjoo, and Byungjoo squeaked and hid his face. Hansol laughed and returned to movie-hunting, eventually producing one called ‘Secretly, Greatly’. “You ever watched this?”

Byungjoo shook his head. “No… I’ve heard of it though, it’s really good right?” To which Hansol nodded in reply, popping the film’s disc into his laptop. He wriggled under the covers and put the laptop between them, Byungjoo mimicked his actions and leant his head on Hansol’s shoulder.

 

For a good half an hour or more, they were both laughing their heads off and tearing from laughter. But now, they were tearing from sadness. Byungjoo’s bottom lip quivered with every passing scene, eyes completely focused on the film. Hansol was in practically the same state, except he didn’t look as upset (mainly because he was aware of what would happen). The main character got their haircut, shifting a change in dynamics. Suddenly, the film lost its comedic element and got serious. Hansol couldn’t help but make a comment, “He looks good. I’m not gonna lie.” To which Byungjoo hit him for, telling him to shut up and enjoy the film. Byungjoo definitely started to blub a bit when the main character passed all of his savings to the woman with a child in the states, enough to do more than get there. He suddenly had no belongings but himself, Byungjoo gripped the covers tight as he watched the film go by. By the time of the final scenes, he was a wreck. Byungjoo had tears already starting to stream down his face and he let out choked sobs, Hansol was in a much better state than he was. Hansol’s face remained dry, except the tears that still remained welled up. Hansol suddenly felt a wetness on his skin, he gazed down towards Byungjoo and noticed he had been crying onto Hansol. He wrapped an arm around Byungjoo, holding him tight and rubbing his arm. He remembers crying at the film, but certainly not as bad as Byungjoo was. It was more like Byungjoo’s favourite pet died rather than a fictional film on Hansol’s laptop, but Hansol sort of enjoyed comforting Byungjoo. The waterworks were fully running after the film ended and every time Byungjoo talked the only thing that came out was choked sobs. “Byungjoo, breathe, do you want snacks? Will food make you happy?”

“Yes,” Byungjoo said, muffled against Hansol’s chest.

“Then stop clinging to me, otherwise I can’t get you happy food.” Hansol sighed, trying to pry Byungjoo off of him. And he let go, letting Hansol quickly nip downstairs and grab whatever snacks he found. Hansol called up at Byungjoo while coming up the stairs, “Byungjoo! I got Doritos, like, cool ranch flavour!”

Byungjoo instantly perked up, extending his arms to Hansol as he came back into the room. “Gimme.”

“No please? No thanks for getting them?” Hansol teased, getting back under the covers and eating the Doritos for himself.

“Please, can I have Doritos? Thank you for getting them.” Byungjoo whined, opening his mouth to be fed. Hansol rolled his eyes and popped a Dorito or two into Byungjoo’s mouth, he ended up feeding both Byungjoo and himself. “You’re the best and worst. Best for Doritos but worst for this film. I’m going to dwell on it for days, I hate you.”

“Wow, love you too.” Hansol snickered, shoving a handful of Doritos into Byungjoo’s mouth. It successfully shut him up, no more complaints were heard at the time.

Once Byungjoo had fully recovered, he turned his attention back to his original curiosity. “So,” he asked, wiggling in closer, “are you going to show me those tattoos now?”

Hansol laughed. “Sure. Look.” He rolled his the legs of his boxers up, revealing tattoos of simple thorns that wrapped around both of his thighs.

Byungjoo stared for a long while before whispering, almost unintentionally, “Can I touch them?”

Hansol nodded. “Sure.”

Byungjoo reached out slowly and touched the one on Hansol’s left thigh, the one closest to him. He ran his fingers along it, almost mystified, and then reached over and touched the other one. “How long have you had them?” He asked eventually, fingers still touching Hansol’s skin.

“About… three years? Maybe four, I’ve forgotten.” Hansol shrugged. Then, “Do you like them?”

Byungjoo nodded. “I think they’re pretty… I wish I had the guts to get tattoos like these.”

Hansol laughed and leaned over, pecking Byungjoo’s lips. “It’s fine, I’ve probably got enough for the both of us.” Then there was a moment’s pause before Hansol’s mouth was back on Byungjoo’s, pushing him with his body so that he fell back onto the bed. Byungjoo’s head bumped the headboard but he ignored it in favor of figuring out where he was supposed to put his hands. He eventually settled for maintaining contact with the bare skin of Hansol’s thighs, and Hansol didn’t seem to mind.

Hansol’s tongue pressed past Byungjoo’s lips and Byungjoo opened his mouth to allow entry, then stopped short when he felt something click against his teeth. He pulled his head back slightly and Hansol broke away, looking at him confusedly.

“What was that?” Byungjoo asked, and Hansol’s brow furrowed.

“What was what?”

“Something hit my teeth,” Byungjoo explained, pouting.

In reply, Hansol stuck out his tongue, and Byungjoo gawked. There was a metal piercing in the center of Hansol’s tongue, and Byungjoo stared for a moment longer before tilting his head up to recapture Hansol’s mouth.

Hansol’s hand had started creeping up the inside of Byungjoo’s thigh and Byungjoo felt light-headed and… awkward, above all else. He wasn’t sure what to do with his hands beyond keeping them on Hansol’s skin, and even that was probably boring. So, he pulled away for a moment to ask, “Where should I put my hands?”

Hansol took both of Byungjoo’s hands and placed the palms of them against his ass. “That’s good.”

Byungjoo squeaked but he doubted Hansol heard it, because directly after Hansol’s mouth was on his again, with more teeth and tongue this time. Byungjoo squeezed Hansol’s ass experimentally, still feeling awkward and more like a virgin than he would have cared to admit.

Hansol pulled back for a second, and when he spoke he sounded breathless. “It’s okay, Byungjoo, if you don’t want to-”

“No!” Byungjoo said, a bit too panicked. “No, no, I want to, I’m just- I’m so awkward.”

Hansol laughed, pressing a chaste kiss to Byungjoo’s lips. “Awkward is fine, I’m not going to get mad or anything.” He kissed Byungjoo’s cheek, then trailed kisses down to Byungjoo’s neck where he nipped lightly at the skin. Byungjoo couldn’t help himself- he gasped a bit, tilting his head back to give Hansol better access. In return, Hansol bit down harder and then sucked at the skin, and Byungjoo shivered.

After a bit more well-placed bites and hickies, Byungjoo pushed Hansol back a bit so he could get his attention. “Show me what to do.” He said, voice a tad firm. “I- I feel bad, I’m just laying here holding your ass.”

Hansol laughed, then smirked. “Yeah, I’ll show you what to do. Yeah.”

 

“What are you doing?” Hansol asked, voice tired.

Byungjoo didn’t look away from his phone when he responded. “Bragging.”

Hansol laughed and curled up against Byungjoo’s side. Byungjoo finished typing his message to Jiho, a message that read: ‘dick piercings are confirmed’. Hansol brought a hand up to Byungjoo’s chest and patted, looking up at him. “What’d you say to him then?”

“I told him that we made sweet passionate love and it was amazing, to which he responded ‘was he a sex god?’ and I don’t wanna talk about what I replied to that.” Byungjoo replied, shifting himself so he could look at Hansol. He laid on his side, facing Hansol who did the same. He could see Hansol’s face so clearly, they were so close. Byungjoo studied his face, openly staring and taking in each and every feature.

“Like my face that much?” Hansol teased, poking a finger at Byungjoo’s shoulder.

“I love it.” Byungjoo instantly made a face after saying that, he then gripped Hansol’s arm to feel a little bit of reassurance.

“Do you love me?”

Byungjoo paused, his face starting to turn red. He wanted to scream ‘yes’ at Hansol but he was tired and Hansol was tired and Byungjoo was embarrassed. He inhaled sharply, “yeah” was all he could breathe out. He had more than that to say, he had probably enough to say that if it was written down he could write a bible. Hansol smiled, shuffling even closer to wrap his arms around Byungjoo and nuzzle his face into the crook of his neck. Byungjoo spoke up again, “Are we boyfriends now?” He felt stupid for asking, they practically already had confessed. But he needed confirmation, he officially wanted the word ‘boyfriends’ to come out of Hansol’s mouth.

Hansol hummed against his skin. “Maybe.” Hansol couldn’t keep a straight face, Byungjoo felt Hansol starting to smile. “Yes. Yes, we’re boyfriends.”

Byungjoo grinned, instantaneously wrapped his arms around Hansol and squeezed. “I love you.” He felt overwhelmingly happy, he could cry but he was too worn out already for that.

Hansol brought a finger to Byungjoo’s lips. “Go to sleep.”

“Okay.” Byungjoo nodded, he noticed how tired Hansol looked. Hansol already had his eyes shut and was off on his way to sleep. Byungjoo couldn’t help but let his gaze linger for a little longer before he shut his own eyes and went to sleep.

 

Byungjoo threw open the door of his apartment with a mighty yell of, “I have a boyfriend!”

“Good for you,” Jiho groaned from the couch, and Byungjoo walked over to sit beside him.

“What’s up with you? You’re not even gonna call me gaylord?” Byungjoo asked, and Jiho shrugged.

“The usual is up, I guess.” Jiho said, sounding bored as he flipped through channels. Byungjoo knew that ‘the usual’ usually referred to Hojoon just being himself, so Byungjoo went and retrieved the ice cream from the freezer. Jiho didn’t look at Byungjoo when he presented the ice cream tub and a spoon to him, but he took it anyway and opened the container.

“It’ll be fine,” Byungjoo said after a few minutes, and Jiho grunted by way of answer.

“Easy for you to say, you’ve got a boyfriend. You got laid.”

“You probably got laid too.” Byungjoo pointed out, and Jiho sighed.

“Yeah, that’s the problem. That’s all I got. I got sex and nothing else.”

Byungjoo paused for a moment before whispering, “Eat some more ice cream, Jiho.”

Jiho obliged.

They ended up watching Guy Fieri’s stupid grocery game show until early in the morning, and then fell asleep on the couch together. Byungjoo woke up to melted ice cream matted in his hair and groaned, rubbing his head on Jiho’s shirt.

“Ew, what are you doing?” Jiho asked, voice groggy from sleep.

“You fell asleep with the ice cream,” Byungjoo mumbled, aiming to wipe the drool from his mouth onto Jiho’s shirt but instead wiping it on his bare skin.

“Ew, ew, stop rubbing yourself all over me.” Jiho groaned, shoving Byungjoo into the floor. Byungjoo wheezed when he hit the floor and curled up with the intent of going back to sleep, but instead had to answer his phone when it started ringing from the kitchen.

“Ugh,” Byungjoo groaned, waving a hand. “Get that for me, Jiho.”

“No, lardass, get it yourself.” Jiho said, poking Byungjoo in the face with his toes. Byungjoo spluttered and got up, if only to get away from Jiho’s feet, and grabbed his phone just as it was about to go to voicemail.

“Hello?” Byungjoo said by way of greeting.

Hansol’s voice came from the other end. “Byungjoo! It’s three in the afternoon, why haven’t you answered my calls?”

Shit. “Uh, I- I kind of just woke up, I’m really sorry. I’ll- I’ll get dressed and come in-”

“No- I wasn’t calling about work, silly, it’s Sunday. I wanted to go out to lunch!”

Double shit. “I’m so sorry- I- we can still go, right?”

Hansol laughed, and Byungjoo smiled, going to brush his hair back from his face before he remembered it was covered in ice cream. “Yeah, of course we can still go. How about we just go to McDonald’s, we managed to have a good time there, right?”

Byungjoo’s mind went to his incident in the bathroom the last time they had went. “Uh, yeah. I’ll meet you there, then!”

“Alright! I love you bunches.”

Byungjoo couldn’t keep the blush off his cheeks. “I- I love you too.” He hung up the phone and turned to Jiho, who was staring at him with raised eyebrows.

“You got a date?” Jiho asked, and Byungjoo nodded. “Well then go shower, you look like shit.”

“Thanks, Jiho.”

 

Hansol was already outside Byungjoo’s shared apartment, waving once he saw Byungjoo come out the door. “Hi Byungjoo!”

Byungjoo ran up to Hansol, practically leaping up into his arms. “Hi!”

“Well isn’t someone excited to see me? Are you feeling sore or anything from last night at all?” Hansol squeezed Byungjoo, his arms wrapped tightly around him. He sounded a little concerned and pouted once he pulled away from the hug to look at Byungjoo’s face.

“I’m, uh, fine…” Byungjoo smiled, getting into the car after Hansol did.

Hansol gave Byungjoo a pat on the shoulder. “Good! Now lets go get some food, I’m really hungry. Are you?”

Byungjoo’s stomach growled. “Apparently I am.” Hansol laughed, starting up his car. The two of them made conversation while Hansol drove to McDonalds, chatting about a variety of things from TV programmes to what they were going to eat. The two hurried out of the car and into McDonalds, grabbing each others hands along the way and swinging them back and forth.

“Okay so like, the chicken nuggets sharer? Are you actually serious?” Hansol sighed, he fancied a big mac if anything.

“Yeah there’s like… 25 nuggets, is that not okay? Do you want more?” Byungjoo pushed, he just really liked nuggets. If Hansol didn’t want to eat the sharer, he could eat it by himself. The fact it was named ‘the sharer’ was horseshit, Byungjoo could finish that in half an hour or less.

“Nah, I’ll just get a big mac as well.” Hansol shrugged, then going up to order. “Go sit down and grab us some seats.”

“Alright, but I want like… thirty nuggets if they have that. And a diet pepsi or coke or whatever.” Byungjoo asked before searching around for seats. He chose to sit by the window for the sheer luxury that was sofa seats rather than hard chairs. He grinned from ear to ear when he saw Hansol come back, wielding their drinks and food on the tray.

“They didn’t take too long, gladly, you didn’t die while I was gone or anything?” Hansol jeered, poking fun at him. He set down their tray in front of them and poured out his chips all into the tray, throwing the overcooked ones and the small crispy ones at Byungjoo because ‘the overcooked ones are gross’ and ‘the small crispy ones are just hard’.

Hansol chewed on his big mac, watching as Byungjoo stuffed nugget after nugget into his mouth. “Uhm, Byungjoo. Slow down or you might choke…”

“Uhm? Hansol, I think I know what I’m doing. I’m a nugget expert, watch.” Byungjoo stuffed three nuggets at once into his mouth, by no surprise he choked and spit his nuggets out.

“I told you so,” Hansol snickered. “Also, you’re fucking disgusting and need to clean up your mess.”

“Fuck off! I’m shit.”  Byungjoo angrily replied, crossing his arms and pouting. He coughed again, he could feel the nuggets wanting to come back up.

“Hey, remember when you said that to me before asking me out on our first date?” Hansol reminisced, passing Byungjoo some tissues. “You didn’t even finish all your nuggets, you wasted three and you have six left.”

Byungjoo pouted, wiping up his mess and using the back of his hand to wipe his mouth off. He then pushed his container of nuggets away from him, proclaiming, “I can’t eat anymore.”

Hansol chuckled at him before taking one of the nuggets and throwing it at Byungjoo. He missed horribly, even though Byungjoo was literally sitting right across from him, and the nugget sailed over his head. “Oh- shit.”

“What’d you do?” Byungjoo asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I- I kind of hit an old guy in the face, shit.” Hansol said, a laugh carrying in his voice, and Byungjoo snorted.

Byungjoo noticed the old man get up and walk to the front, but he didn’t expect to actually get thrown out of McDonald’s. Once he was in Hansol’s car, still laughing, he texted to Jiho: ‘life achievement: thrown out of mcdonalds’.

“Well,” Hansol said as he was backing out of the parking space, “would you like to come home with me?”

Byungjoo nodded shyly, and Hansol patted his knee. Byungjoo was still nervous about staying the night at Hansol’s, even though he’d been there many times before and even slept with him. The idea of having a boyfriend itself was strange, but having a boyfriend that wanted him to stay over often? Even stranger.

Once they were there, Hansol offered Byungjoo something to drink, to which Byungjoo accepted. Hansol appeared with two sodas and lead Byungjoo upstairs, as usual, and sat on his bed with him.

A few minutes passed before Hansol sat his drink on the nightstand and leaned against Byungjoo’s side, head laying on Byungjoo’s shoulder. “This is going to sound so lame,” Hansol began, snuggling in closer, and Byungjoo transferred his can from one hand to the other so he could put an arm around Hansol. “But, you know- I’m really glad I met you. I’m glad you started working here, and I’m glad you like me- I’m glad you love me.”

Byungjoo felt an embarrassed blush spread across his cheeks. He felt like he had to say something back, but he was at a loss for words and ‘me too’ didn’t seem to suffice. He took one of Hansol’s hands and lifted it to his face, kissing along the knuckles and then turning it so he could kiss the palm. “I wish I could say something like that that actually made sense,” Byungjoo whispered against Hansol’s palm, and Hansol moved his hand to cup Byungjoo’s cheek.

“It’s fine. You feel the same, though, or at least kind of the same, right?” Hansol asked, a hopeful note to his voice, and Byungjoo nodded.

“Yeah. Definitely.”

Hansol giggled a bit and turned so he could kiss Byungjoo, arms slipping around Byungjoo’s midsection. “I love you lots,” he said against Byungjoo’s lips, and Byungjoo nodded and pressed their lips together again.

“I love you even more.” Byungjoo said when they broke away, and Hansol practically beamed at him.


End file.
